The present invention relates to units for collecting particles, apparatus including the same and methods for collecting particles using the same.
In general, semiconductor devices may be fabricated using a fabrication process for forming semiconductor chips including electrical circuits on a semiconductor wafer, an electrical die sorting (EDS) process for classifying the semiconductor chips as either good chips or failed chips, and a package process for separating the semiconductor chips from each other and for encapsulating the good chips with epoxy resin.
The fabrication process may comprise a thin film deposition process for forming a material layer on the semiconductor wafer, a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process for planarizing the material layer, a lithography process for forming a photoresist pattern on the material layer, an etching process for forming material patterns using the photoresist pattern as an etching mask, an ion implantation process for injecting impurities into predetermined regions of the semiconductor wafer or the material layer, a cleaning process for removing particles on the semiconductor wafer, and a dry process for removing chemical solutions or de-ionized water on the semiconductor wafer.
The fabrication process may be performed using various chemical gases and/or various chemical solutions, and the chemical gases and/or the chemical solutions used in the fabrication process may be vented through some exhaust conduits which are installed in process apparatus. The chemical gases and/or the chemical solutions may coercively flow inside the exhaust conduits by exhaust fans and may be vented out of a clean room in which the process apparatus are located. The chemical gases and/or the chemical solutions may be processed in a final treatment system before venting out of the clean room.
A pressure inside the respective exhaust conduits should be maintained at a constant and stable value in order to smoothly discharge the chemical gases and/or the chemical solutions. When some obstacles exist in the exhaust conduits, the obstacles may disturb flow of the fluid such as the chemical gases and/or the chemical solutions in the exhaust conduits. For example, the chemical gases and/or the chemical solutions vented out from the process apparatus may react on atmosphere or other chemicals in the exhaust conduits to generate byproducts, and the byproducts may be deposited on inner walls of the exhaust conduits, which can cause variation of the pressure in the exhaust conduits and corrosion of the exhaust conduits.
In particular, when the fluid flowing through the exhaust conduits is a flammable material, the flammable material may spontaneously burn to generate particles, and the particles may be deposited onto the inner walls of the exhaust conduits to cause undesired problems.